Current Status
- Game Complete.
- RMIT CM Team 2 have been crowned as Champions.
Leader Board
Early Years - Team Positions
Period 5
CIOB GSC 2014 - Period 5
A welcome to the Global Student Challenge from the CIOB
Thank you for registering for the CIOB's first Global Student Challenge (GSC).
With the global construction market forecast to grow by over 70% by 2025, we need to ensure that we have extraordinary talent across the globe to deliver on this target. GSC is the first steps towards this. The CIOB is delighted to host this initiative and we believe the GSC journey can help mould the leaders of tomorrow.
We wish you all luck with the competition and we hope to see you in Hong Kong for the finale!
Period 5 results
The opening round has Corinth from Loughborough University, Bau Costruction from Nottingham Trent Unversity, McRanked from Glasgow Caledonian, Quad from Hong Kong University, 3CL from the University of Greenwich and RMIT CM Team 2 from RMIT. Lurking just outside the top six are Oxford Brooks, University of the West of Engand, Northumbria University, Derby University and UCL. Barely 5% separates the top six so this is very tight at the top and those just outside the top six could well catch them in a single round.
The opening round is always a bit misleading. The teams that are at the top are usually those that have run the most trails. This has developed their understanding of what they are doing. As the other teams develop their understanding they'll catch up. There will be great upheaval and change in the league table positions. Team scores can change by as much as 20% in both directions in a single round so every team in is still competing. We look forward to the turbulence in the pecking order.
The backup tutorial will guide teams on their decisions but the key difference between he most successful and others is leadership, organisation and discipline.
The more successful teams are those that organise themselves as a 'Board of Directors' would and take decisions as company directors do. This means each team member having clear defined responsibilities. The individual team member needs to understand all aspects of the input to the decisions for which they are responsible. The team member is an individual specialist.
The key post is that of Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director. This role is the one that oversees the work of all others. The CEO ensures that actions of each team member are taken on time and by questioning the colleague ensures that the recommendations they are making are sound.
Consider a Board Meeting. Each individual reports on their activity since the last meeting, makes recommendations as to what decisions should be approved for which they are responsible. The CEO and other Board Members then interrogate the individual to test that the recommendations are soundly based and have not arrived at on a casual basis. In this way the quality of each suggested decision is tested.
Individual decisions such as employing labour or deciding with contracts to bid for sit within a 'Company Strategy', The strategy is the collective responsibility of the Board. Arrived at after each individual, responsible for their own area of responsibility has had an input. Strategy formulation will face conflicting views and confliction scenarios and conflicting data. These differences are resolved by disciplined discussion. The discipline is imposed by the CEO. This is leadership. The most important aspect of strategy is to determine whether it's achievable and how to implement it. Without these there is no effective strategy. The CEO together with their team of expert Board members must be convinced.
The most organised team with the most disciplined approach to decision making will win this.
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission)
Top 10
Team's improvement
Period 6
CIOB GSC 2014 - Period 6
Same teams, different order
The same teams are in the top six but the order has changed. GCU's McRanked are first ousting Loughborough's Corinth, University of Greenwichs 3CL Construction have crept up to third whereas NTU's Bau Construction have slipped to fourth. RMIT's CM Team 2 are fifth and The University of Hong Kong are down to sixth. Outside the top six but looking menacing are Loughborough, RMIT, Hong Kong, Oxford Brookes University of West of England, Northumbria, Deakn, UCL and the others.
GCU have their nose in front but amongst the others it's pretty tightly packed so it's still anyone's game. Percentage changes in scores can be more than 30% in a round. This can increase as the competition nears the end and teams start to take less conservative decisions.
Individual decisions such as employing labour or deciding with contracts to bid for sit within a 'Company Strategy', The strategy is the collective responsibility of the Board. Arrived at after each individual, responsible for their own area of responsibility has had an input. Strategy formulation will face conflicting views and confliction scenarios and conflicting data. These are resolved by disciplined discussion. The discipline is imposed by the CEO. This is leadership. The most important aspect of strategy is to determine whether it's achievable and how to implement it. Without these there is no effective strategy. The CEO together with their team of expert Board members must be convinced.
However the greatest aspect of strategy is flexibility. When the original strategy doesn't work out, when the market changes, when competition increases, when the financial status is difficult, does the Board have the wit to recognise the changes and the strength to change the strategy. An effective Board will, a casual board will plough on with the original and now failing strategy. Flexibility is a strength.
The teams that adopt a disciplined approach to Board responsibilities, Board decisions, strategy reviews and responses are the most successful in MERIT simulations as they would be in life. The successful teams adopt the mantle of senior directors they act like senior directors, they conduct themselves as senior directors and some even dress as senior directors when their Board meets. These teams have taken a step away from being students and are adopting the attitudes and behaviour that will sustain them in the more responsible roles they will fill.
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission)
Top 10
Team's improvement
Period 7
CIOB GSC 2014 - Period 7
A shuffle at the top
The top six remain the same but the order changes again GCU's 'McRanked' still hold 1st place, The University of Greenwich's '3CL Construction' and The University of Hong Kong's 'Quad' rise to positions 2 and 3 RMIT CM Team 2 are static at 4. Loughborough University's 'Corinth' and NTU's 'Bau Construction' have slipped to 5 and 6 they need to be careful or they'll slip out of the top six. Defending a leading position has, in previous games, made teams cautious and their decisions become conservative and get overtaken by teams taking more courageous or even risky decisions. Lurking just outwith the top six are HKU, Oxford Brookes, RMIT CM Team 1, Loughborough, GCU, University of West of England and Deakin. Any of these could be in the top six in the next round but with three more to go it is still anyone’s game.
A key factor to watch is how well you are using your company capital, have you got the biggest turnover you can have for the capital in the company? If not it means the capital isn't working as hard as it should. At nine times the turnover to capital there is the question whether the company is big enough to take on another project and this is determined by the client's discretion based on the company's record with that client. More than eleven times the turnover to capital it is assumed that the company doesn't have the resources to take on more work. The company can expand by borrowing. But the other side of this is that if your turnover to capital ratio is say only five it in effect means that you capital isn't working hard enough. The company has underutilized capital resources. The company faces the choice of expanding turnover if it can or reducing its capital base maybe by investing in other opportunities but that depends on the cash available and that is another aspect that needs managing.
There is still all to play for to gain a top six position. Good luck.
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission)
Top 10
Team's improvement
Period 8
CIOB GSC 2014 - Period 8
A time for courage
Nottingham Trent University's 'Bau Construction' has slipped out of the top six, so their trip to the Hong Kong Final is less secure. Oxford Brookes' 'OBU Construction' has risen two places to replace NTU at sixth place. GCU's 'McRanked' continue to hold top spot but by only 5 points from the new number 2 HKU's 'Quad' rising from 3rd place. RMIT's 'CM Team 2' are up one to third University of Greenwich's '3CL Construction' down two to 4th. Loughborough University's 'Corinth' clings onto 5th place.
Outside the top six HKU's 'SQUARE' are in 7th and only 7 points behind the sixth place. The gap to sixth place for NTU's 'Bau construction' is 53, GCU's 'Stratton Oakmont Construction Ltd' 102, University of the West of England, 154, RMIT's 'CM Team 1', 157, LU's 'Quality Build', 182 and Deakin's 'Deakin Dragons', 272. Deakin would require only a relative gain of only 14% points to make sixth place, a bridgeable gap in one round and certainly in the two remaining rounds. The largest improvement in round 8 was 21% and five teams recorded improvements of more than 15%. Conclusion the top six places are not all secured yet and there is still everything to play form. The lower teams will be examining their strategies and looking for the imaginative breakthrough that will propel them upwards. Watch your costs, make sure you've got the best project managers, ensure that your forward turnover is profitable, manage your capital and reward your shareholders.
The decisions now are all serious ones, a bad decision could cost your place, a well thought through set of decisions could well be winners. It's no time to be conservative and cautious it's time for courage. Good luck.
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission)
Top 10
Team's improvement
Period 9
CIOB GSC 2014 - Period 9
The stage is set
With one more round to go the change in the top six is HKU's 'SQUARE'who have moved into position 6 from 7th displacing OBU's 'OBU Construction' who have slipped to 9th.GCU's 'McRanked' have lost top spot to go second to HKU's 'Quad'. RMIT's 'CM Team 2', University of Greenwich's '3CL Construction' and Loughborough University's 'Corinth' held positions 3,4 and 5.
Deakin University's 'Deakins Dragons' have surged to position 7 from 13th with a remarkable 23% improvement in their performance. Only 121 points behind 'Square' they are well placed to move into the last six in the final round.
RMIT's 'CM Team 1' in 8thth only 72 points further behind, another 10 points back are Oxford Brookes' 'OBU Construction' who have slipped from 6th and only 43 points further back are GCU's 'Stratton Oakmont Construction Ltd'.. So it's all pretty tight as we go into the final round. NTU's 'BAU Construction' slipped again to 11th and having been highly placed in the early rounds they need to analyse their decisions to stage a late recovery.
In the Final round Teams tend to make decisions that, if successful, are described as courageous; if unsuccessful they will be described as foolhardy. The net effect is that bigger movements can be expected in this last round. The top six will be conservative as they defend their position those in positions 5 and 6 look the most vunerable. This sets us up for what could be a dramatic final round. We wish you all luck in this round and next time we will know who qualifies for the Hong Kong Final.
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission)
Top 10
Team's improvement
Period 10
CIOB GSC 2014 - Period 10
The Results are in
With the end of Period 10 we now know the top six who now go onto the final in Hong Kong. These are: HKU's 'Quad' who held the top spot that they took over from GCU's 'McRanked' in Period 9, 'McRanked' have held their second place; RMIT's 'CM Team 2' and University of Greenwich's '3CL Construction' held onto places 3 and 4; HKU's other team 'SQUARE' moved up from 6 to 5 displacing Loughborough's 'Corinth' who nevertheless managed to remain in the top six. So for these teams there is much to celebrate.
Sadly just outside the top six were Deakin's 'Dragons' who held 7th place but didn't quite continue the surge upwards they showed in the last round. RMIT's 'CM Team1' weren't far back either.
So the final has two Hong Kong teams, three UK teams and one Australian. The Final in Hong King 24/25 July will be more competitive and intense with strict time constraints. The pressure of the Final will cause great turbulence in the teams' performances and over the eight rounds to go any team can win.
Preliminary results, subject to change.
Top 10
Team's improvement
Submissions Schedule
Early Years
- Period 5 / Round 1 - 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 12 Feb 2014
- Period 6 / Round 2 - 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 19 Feb 2014
- Period 7 / Round 3 - 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 26 Feb 2014
- Period 8 / Round 4 - 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 05 Mar 2014
- Period 9 / Round 5 - 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 12 Mar 2014
- Period 10 / Round 6 - 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 19 Mar 2014
Final
- Period 11 / Round 7 - 11:20 HKG, Thursday 24 July 2014
- Period 12 / Round 8 - 14:00 HKG, Thursday 24 July 2014
- Period 13 / Round 9 - 15:20 HKG, Thursday 24 July 2014
- Period 14 / Round 10 - 16:35 HKG, Thursday 24 July 2014
- Period 15 / Round 11 - 10:00 HKG, Friday 25 July 2014
- Period 16 / Round 12 - 11:20 HKG, Friday 25 July 2014
- Period 17 / Round 13 - 13:10 HKG, Friday 25 July 2014
- Period 18 / Round 14 - 15:10 HKG, Friday 25 July 2014